A secret Catholic Church report found an Australian parish priest had been internally investigated and found guilty of child sex abuse, despite no criminal charges ever being laid against him.
A report into a confidential investigation into Father Peter Searson of the Doveton parish, south east of Melbourne, in 1997 found he was guilty of the offences, ABC's Four Corners reports.
While Cardinal George Pell rejected a church cover-up of Father Searson's crimes when he gave evidence at last year's Victorian inquiry into child sex abuse, he did not make reference to the internal 1997 investigation or the finding that he had sexually abused children in his parish.
Of course, we can trust everything the good Cardinal says even though the Commission had to ask him to tell the truth.
The revelation the church knew about Father Searson's abuse was found in a report by the Independent Commissioner into Sexual Abuse, Peter O'Callaghan.
He was appointed in 1997 by Cardinal Pell, who was Archbishop of Melbourne at the time, to look at allegations from teachers and parents regarding Father Searson.
Mr O'Callaghan's report revealed Father Searson had a track record of suspected sexual abuse even before he joined the Victorian parish in 1984.
Cardinal George Pell, who was Archbishop of Melbourne at the time, poses with Katie Foster at her confirmation in September 1985. Katie was repeatedly raped by her priest Father Kevin O'Donnell in Oakley near Melbourne
It also detailed a number of complaints against the priest made to the Catholic Education Office by people at the Holy Family School in Doveton during the 13 years he was there.
But the Melbourne Archdiocese (read Archbishop Pell) never released these findings.
Former school principal Graeme Sleeman said he lost his career fighting the church to deal with Father Searson and claims the actions of the church went well beyond 'maladministration'.
'You could almost call it a fetish that he had about having children go to confession to him and they'd have to sit by him and kneel at him,' Mr Sleeman told Four Corners.
'They were the complaints that children brought to me about him and his behaviour... (one) particular day he had confession and this young girl came screaming out of the church and she was brought to me by her teacher and she was inconsolable. She had been interfered with by Searson in the confessional.'
Mr Sleeman resigned in 1986 to draw attention to what was happening but he said his letter of resignation was censored by a church official in the Catholic Education Office.
'I alleged that he had interfered with young girls at the school, and he had stolen money and that he terrorised young boys... he said I could not say that. I didn’t have the proof,' he said.
Carmel Rafferty arrived at the school as a teacher a year after Mr Sleeman left. She immediately became concerned about the actions of the parish priest.
'(The children) wanted protection from the priest…and I said what is your concern? "We don’t want to serve on the altar". So I asked them why they didn’t... and they said "it’s because of the way he touches us",' she said.
'It came to a head when the priest was going into the boys’ toilets several times a day and we more or less said that’s it, and the principal authorised the three year five-six teachers to go in a deputation to Pell at the time.'
Father Searson was eventually placed on administrative leave but he wasn't sacked by the church when the assault charges were laid.
Broken Rites Australia - researching the Catholic cover-up of child sex abuse reports that for years, the Melbourne Catholic Archdiocese knew that Father Peter Searson was touching and sexually harassing boys, girls and women, including while he was working as a "chaplain" in the blind and deaf communities. Despite this, the church allowed Searson to continue working in parishes, thus putting more victims at risk.
BRA also reports that a man ("Bruce") told Broken Rites in 1997 that in 1974 he was engaged to a young woman ("Sue") who was a nursing assistant, caring for blind people at the Villa Maria Society while Searson was the chaplain there. Bruce was a Catholic but Sue was not, so Sue (then aged 18) was sent to Father Searson for Catholic religious instruction.
According to Sue, Searson quizzed her about her sex life and gave her "sex education" by mauling her genitals, saying that it was all right for priests to do this. He allegedly told Sue (who was not blind) that he needed to do this kind of thing when he was "helping" blind people. Sue's complaint went to the Melbourne archdiocesan authorities in 1974 but no action was taken.
Mr O'Callaghan’s report showed the priest had 'successfully appealed to the Congregation in Rome, which held that the Commission did not have appropriate jurisdiction or procedure to make the findings'.
Father Searson died in 2009.
He was the last of four priests who sexually abused children at Doveton Parish 25 years from 1972 to 1997.
The other offending priests were Father Thomas O’Keeffe, Father Wilfred Baker and Father Victor Rubeo.
Chrissie and Andrew Foster, whose two daughters were repeatedly raped by a priest in Oakleigh near Melbourne in the late '80s, successfully sued the Catholic Church for damage caused to their children.
They say the actions of priests have lasting consequences on families, even though the church doesn't recognise it.
In 1999 Katie Foster, who had been drinking, was hit by a car, and remains profoundly disabled.
In 2008 Emma Foster took her own life.
When Father Searson died, the Fosters were on hand to take photos as 15 priests and a Bishop from the Melbourne Archdiocese gathered to pay their respects, despite his actions.
'The Royal Commission here, to do its job properly, needs all the documents associated with all the sexual assault complaints and all the priests that have carried those out in Australia,' Mr Foster said.
'And of course, the Catholic Church does not want us to see the whole picture, that's the whole problem.
A report into a confidential investigation into Father Peter Searson of the Doveton parish, south east of Melbourne, in 1997 found he was guilty of the offences, ABC's Four Corners reports.
While Cardinal George Pell rejected a church cover-up of Father Searson's crimes when he gave evidence at last year's Victorian inquiry into child sex abuse, he did not make reference to the internal 1997 investigation or the finding that he had sexually abused children in his parish.
Of course, we can trust everything the good Cardinal says even though the Commission had to ask him to tell the truth.
 |
| Peter Searson - in mockery of the word 'Holy' |
He was appointed in 1997 by Cardinal Pell, who was Archbishop of Melbourne at the time, to look at allegations from teachers and parents regarding Father Searson.
Mr O'Callaghan's report revealed Father Searson had a track record of suspected sexual abuse even before he joined the Victorian parish in 1984.
Cardinal George Pell, who was Archbishop of Melbourne at the time, poses with Katie Foster at her confirmation in September 1985. Katie was repeatedly raped by her priest Father Kevin O'Donnell in Oakley near Melbourne
It also detailed a number of complaints against the priest made to the Catholic Education Office by people at the Holy Family School in Doveton during the 13 years he was there.
But the Melbourne Archdiocese (read Archbishop Pell) never released these findings.
Former school principal Graeme Sleeman said he lost his career fighting the church to deal with Father Searson and claims the actions of the church went well beyond 'maladministration'.
'You could almost call it a fetish that he had about having children go to confession to him and they'd have to sit by him and kneel at him,' Mr Sleeman told Four Corners.
'They were the complaints that children brought to me about him and his behaviour... (one) particular day he had confession and this young girl came screaming out of the church and she was brought to me by her teacher and she was inconsolable. She had been interfered with by Searson in the confessional.'
Mr Sleeman resigned in 1986 to draw attention to what was happening but he said his letter of resignation was censored by a church official in the Catholic Education Office.
'I alleged that he had interfered with young girls at the school, and he had stolen money and that he terrorised young boys... he said I could not say that. I didn’t have the proof,' he said.
 |
| Cardinal Pell blessed Emma Foster at her confirmation in 1993. Ms Foster took her own life in 2008 |
'(The children) wanted protection from the priest…and I said what is your concern? "We don’t want to serve on the altar". So I asked them why they didn’t... and they said "it’s because of the way he touches us",' she said.
'It came to a head when the priest was going into the boys’ toilets several times a day and we more or less said that’s it, and the principal authorised the three year five-six teachers to go in a deputation to Pell at the time.'
Father Searson was eventually placed on administrative leave but he wasn't sacked by the church when the assault charges were laid.
Broken Rites Australia - researching the Catholic cover-up of child sex abuse reports that for years, the Melbourne Catholic Archdiocese knew that Father Peter Searson was touching and sexually harassing boys, girls and women, including while he was working as a "chaplain" in the blind and deaf communities. Despite this, the church allowed Searson to continue working in parishes, thus putting more victims at risk.
BRA also reports that a man ("Bruce") told Broken Rites in 1997 that in 1974 he was engaged to a young woman ("Sue") who was a nursing assistant, caring for blind people at the Villa Maria Society while Searson was the chaplain there. Bruce was a Catholic but Sue was not, so Sue (then aged 18) was sent to Father Searson for Catholic religious instruction.
According to Sue, Searson quizzed her about her sex life and gave her "sex education" by mauling her genitals, saying that it was all right for priests to do this. He allegedly told Sue (who was not blind) that he needed to do this kind of thing when he was "helping" blind people. Sue's complaint went to the Melbourne archdiocesan authorities in 1974 but no action was taken.
Mr O'Callaghan’s report showed the priest had 'successfully appealed to the Congregation in Rome, which held that the Commission did not have appropriate jurisdiction or procedure to make the findings'.
Father Searson died in 2009.
He was the last of four priests who sexually abused children at Doveton Parish 25 years from 1972 to 1997.
The other offending priests were Father Thomas O’Keeffe, Father Wilfred Baker and Father Victor Rubeo.
 |
| Chrissie and Andrew Foster, whose two daughters were repeatedly raped by a priest in Oakleigh near Melbourne in the late '80s |
They say the actions of priests have lasting consequences on families, even though the church doesn't recognise it.
 |
| Katie and Emma Foster were both sexually assaulted by Father O'Donnell Sacred Heart Church |
In 2008 Emma Foster took her own life.
When Father Searson died, the Fosters were on hand to take photos as 15 priests and a Bishop from the Melbourne Archdiocese gathered to pay their respects, despite his actions.
 |
| When Searson died in 2009, 15 priests and a Bishop from the Melbourne Archdiocese gathered to pay their respects despite his behaviour with children |
'And of course, the Catholic Church does not want us to see the whole picture, that's the whole problem.
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